Clothes protector for clotheslines



March 21, 1939. G. VAFIT 2,151,489

CLOTHES PROTECTOR FOR CLOTHESLINES Filed April 14, 1958 INVENTOR Gemgae Viz/Z2 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES ant -st PATENT OFFECE 7 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in a clothes protector for clothes lines.

More specifically, the invention proposes the construction of a clothes protector for a clothes line characterized by the provision of a housing for attachment upon the support member of the clothes line and which has a supply of protective strip material supported therein.

Still further it is proposed to so support the supply of protective strip material within the housing that it may be withdrawn therefrom and extended over the clothes line before clothes are hung thereon for preventing the clean clothes from coming in direct contact with the dirty clothes line.

Still further it is proposed to form the protective strip material with pliable elements at spaced positions along the length thereof and to provide the housing with a means for clamping the pliable members upon the clothes line for holding the strip material in position thereon.

A further object of this invention is to provide the housing with an element for guiding a section of the clothes line beneath an extended web portion of the protective strip material so that the same may be properly positioned thereon.

Still further it is proposed to provide a housing with an inverted U-shaped guide for assisting in guiding said clothes line and with a forming guide superimposed on said U-shaped guide, and to have the protective strip material come from between said forming guide and said U-shaped guide for clamping said pliable members upon the clothes line.

For furthercomprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, and to the appended 0 claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a clothes line protector constructed according to this invention and associated with a clothes line.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of a portion of Fig. 1.

50 Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fi 1.

Fig. 4 is a view looking in the direction of the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of 55 Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the roll of protective strip material per se.

The clothes protector for clothes lines is to be used in combination with a clothes line It which extends over a pulley H supported upon a hook 12 attached to a support member I3 which might be either side of a window frame or similar supporting element. The clothes protector for clothes lines is characterized by a hollow housing M which is adapted to be attached beneath the clothes line it and upon the support member H3. The housing M is formed with rearwardly extending lugs l5 which are adapted to be securely attached to a bracket it by means. of a bolt ll. This bracket [6 in turn is adapted to be slidably secured in an angularly mounted channel It upon the frame Hi. This slide arrangement permits easy attachment and removal of the device. The housing M is formed with an open top side which is adapted to be closed by a cover It which is pivotally supported at one of its ends by means of a hinge IS. The other end of the cover I8 is formed with a means for holding the same in its closed position.

This means comprises an inwardly extending slot 20 formed on the free end of the cover 58 which is adapted to engage a screw 2| formed upon the housing M. A wing nut 22 is threadedly engaged upon the screw 2! and is adapted to be clamped against the free end of the cover l8 for holding this cover in its closed position. A supply of protective strip material 23 is mounted within the housing ii and has a web end portion 23 which is adapted to extend therefrom. The supply of protective strip material 23 comprises an elongated narrow strip of cloth which has one of its ends releasably attached to a roller 24 This roller 24 is formed with a hook element 25 beneath which one end of the protective strip material 23 is adapted to be engaged. The roller Ed has a portion thereof which extends to the outside of the housing i l and a handle 26 is mounted upon this extended portion for winding the strip of protective material upon the roller 24.

The cover element i8 is formed with a slot m through which the strip of protective material is adapted to pass for permitting it to be engaged upon the clothes line H. Elements are provided for guiding a section of the clothes line beneath the extended web portion of said strip of protective material. This means comprises an inverted U-shaped guide 21 which is attached to the top face of the cover l8 to one side of the slot I8.

This inverted U-shaped guide is fixedly attached thereto by means of rivets 28. The sides of this inverted U-shaped guide is integrally formed with outwardly extending hooks 29 (see Fig. 5). The line I0 is adapted to pass over the pulley I I and then be engaged beneath either of the hooks 29 and beneath the inverted U-shaped guide 2'! for aligning it with this extended portion of the protective strip.

A means is provided for bending the extended web portion 23 over the section of the clothes line at a stationary point continuously as the clothes line is moved and new sections assume and pass said point. This means comprises a forming guide 39 which is superimposed upon the U-shaped guide 21 and which has its inner end attached to the outer face of the cover l8 on the other side of the slot [8 This attachment is accomplished by the use of rivets 3|. The forming guide 30 is also substantially U- shaped in construction and is superimposed upon the U-shaped guide 21 in such a manner that a narrow passage will be formed between the adjacent faces of the two guides 21 and 36) through which the strip of protective material passes.

The ends of the guides 27 and 33 are bent downwardly for the purpose of making the same progressively narrower until they reach a point at their very ends where they have a width slightly greater than the diameter of the clothes line H]. This construction is clearly shown in Fig. 4 and it will be noted that as the protective strip 23 is drawn from the roller 24 by movement of the clothes line In the extended web portion 23 of the protective material 23 will be bent in half and positioned upon the clothes line, externally from the apex of member 30. The clothes line may be either at the right or left hand side of the device, so that the extended protective strip material 23 may be freely wound upon the roller 24Qwithout tangling same with the clothes line 13.

An automatic arrangement may also be provided for winding the protective strip 23 on the roller 24.

The very end of the strip of protective material 23 is formed with a member 32 which is relatively stiff and which cannot be easily bent and which is of such width that it is unable to pass into the housing M through the slot 18*. Thus this element 32 acts to prevent the end of the protective material 23 from being drawn within the housing l4. At spaced positions along the length the protective material 23 is formed with pliable elements 33 which are adapted to pass through a constricted end 33 formed upon the free end of the forming guide 30. This constricted end is adapted to clamp the pliable members 33 tightly upon the clothes line H! for holding the protective strip material in position on the said line.

The adjacent faces of the guides 2'! and 3b are adapted to bend the pliable members 33 out of their substantially flat state into a position in which the constricted end 38* will be capable of clamping the same upon the clothes line.

A means is provided for permitting the forming guide so to be moved to the position illustrated by the dot and dash lines 36 in Fig. 3 for the purpose of permitting the pliable members 33 to be bent back to their normal position manually so that the protective material 23 may again be engaged within the housing Hi. This means comprises a hinge 3 3 which pivotally supports the front portion 30 of the forming guide 30 upon the rear portion 36. It is the rear portion 30 which is fixedly attached to the cover l8.

When it is desired to change the protective strip material 23 the cover [8 is moved to the open position as shown by the dot and dash lines It in Fig. 3, and the protective material is unwound from the roller 24 and the end is disengaged from the hook 25. The new strip of protective material is applied to the roller 24 by having its end engaged upon the hook 25 and the roller 24 is rotated by means of the handle 26 for guiding the new strip of protective material on the roller 34. It is necessary that the end of the new strip of protective material be passed through the slot l8 before the said end is attached to the hook 25 because after the new strip has been wound upon the roller 24 it is impossible to pass the element 32 through the slot [8 The operation of this device is as follows:

After the bracket I6 has been properly positioned on the support member I3 and the strip of protective material has been positioned upon the roller 24 the extended end web portion 23 may be attached to the clothes line by passing the end element 32 thereon and attaching the clothes to the clothes line with the strip of protective material disposed between the adjacent faces of the clothes and the line. As the line i0 is moved outwards for exposing other portions thereof to permit more clothes to be positioned thereon, the protective strip 23 will move therewith. Each time one of the pliable elements 33 1 'clothes to be removed therefrom. After the clothes are removed those portions of the protective strip which are released from the clothes line are again wound upon the roller 24 by rotating the handle 26,

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A clothes protector for clothes lines, comprising a housing adapted to be stationarily mounted beneath a clothes line, a supply of protective strip material mounted in said housing and having a web end portion extending therefrom, elements for guiding a section of said clothes line beneath said web end portion, and means for bending said web portion over said section of the clothes line at a stationary point continuously as said clothes line is moved and new sections assume and pass said point, said housing being formed with rearwardly extending lugs, a support bracket for attachment upon a support member beneath said clothes line, and means for securely attaching said lugs to said bracket.

2. A clothes protector for clothes lines, comprising a housing adapted to be stationarily mounted beneath a clothes line, a supply of protective strip material mounted in said housing and having a web end portion extending there- 7 from, elements for guiding a section of said clothes line beneath said web end portion, and means for bending said web portion over said section of the clothes line at a stationary point continuously as said clothes line is moved and new sections assume and pass said point, said housing being formed with an open top side, a cover for closing said side, a hinge for pivotally attaching one end of said cover to said housing, and a means for releasably attaching the other end of said cover to said housing for holding the cover in its closed position.

3. A clothes protector for clothes lines, comprising a housing adapted to be stationarily mounted beneath a clothes line, a supply of protective strip material mounted in said housing and having a Web end portion extending therefrom, elements for guiding a section of said clothes line beneath said web end portion, and means for bending said web portion over said section of the clothes line at a stationary point continuously as said clothes line is moved and new sections assume and pass said point, said latter-mentioned means comprising an inwardly extending slot formed in the free end of said cover and 'engageable with a screw attached to a portion of said housing, and a wing nut rotatively supported upon said screw and engageable against the free end of said cover for holding the same in its closed position.

'4. A clothes protector for clothes lines, comprising a housing adapted to be stationarily mounted beneath a clothes line, a supply of protective strip material mounted in said housing and having a web end portion extending therefrom, elements for guiding a section of said clothes line beneath said web end portion, and means for bending said web portion over said section of the clothes line at a stationary point continuously as said clothes line is moved and new sections assume and pass said point, said elements for guiding a section of said clothes line comprising an inverted U-shaped guide element having one of its ends attached to said housing, and hooks formed on the sides of said U-shaped guide, and said clothesline being engageable with one of said hooks and extendable beneath said U-shaped guide for aligning a portion of said clothes line with said extended web portion in such a manner that the extended web portion may be easily engaged thereon.

5. A clothes protector for clothes lines, comprising a housing adapted to be stationarily mounted beneath a clothes line, a supply of protective strip material mounted in said housing and having a web end portion extending therefrom, elements for guiding a section of said clothes line beneath said web end portion, and means for bending said web portion over said section of the clothes line at a stationary point continuously as said clothes line is moved and new sections assume and pass said point, said means comprising a U-shaped guide mounted on said housing, a forming guide superimposed on said U-shaped guide and being slightly spaced from the top face of said U-shaped guide and said extended web portion being adapted to pass between the adjacent faces of said guides, and said forming guide being substantially U-shaped in construction for cooperating with said U- shaped guide in positioning said protective strip on said clothes line.

6. A clothes protector for clothes lines, comprising a housing adapted to be stationarily mounted beneath a clothes line, a supply of protective strip material mounted in said housing and having a web end portion extending therefrom, elements for guiding a section of said clothes line beneath said web end portion, and

means for bending said web portion over said section of the clothes line at a stationary point continuously as said clothes line is moved and new sections assume and pass said point, said means comprising a U-shaped guide mounted on said housing, a forming guide superimposed on said U-shaped guide and being slightly spaced from the top face of said U-shaped guide and said extended web portion being adapted to pass between the adjacent faces of said guides, and said forming guide being substantially U-shaped in construction for cooperating with said U- shaped guide in positioning said protective strip on said clothes line, said protective strip being formed with pliable elements at spaced positions along the length thereof, and said forming guide being formed with a constricted end for clamping said pliable elements on said clothes line for holding said protective strip in position thereon.

7. In a clothes line protector, a housing adapted to be stationarily mounted beneath a clothes line, a supply of protective strip material mounted in said housing and having a web end portion extending therefrom, a pair of superimposed U- shaped guide members between which said web portion is adapted to pass for bending said web into a U-shape and for positioning said web over the top of said clothes line, and a plurality of pliable elements mounted at spaced positions upon said protective strip and adapted to be clamped in position upon said clothes line as said strip passes between said guide members for holding said strip in position upon said line.

GEORGE VAFIT. 

